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Monday, July 9, 2012

True Blood Season 5 Ep. 5 'Let's Boot And Rally'

As always, spoilers are ahead. Now onward into the jaws of death...

First things first. Damn you Sookie Stackhouse. Damn you for not being able to hold your liquor long enough to let us see some long overdue Alcide sex. Damn you for not popping a breath mint, brushing your teeth and switching rooms. Damn you to a hell of involuntary celibacy. *Sips tea, takes a deep breath*.

Now that that's out of the way, let's get to the rest of last night's episode, entitled "Let's Boot and Rally." Accepting and owning one's own power or inner darkness seemed to be an underlying theme, as all the characters were confronted with the true nature of their existence, and chose to either embrace or run from it.

After Sookie cleans up (and I'm assuming Alcide at least wiped his boots off--Sookie's vomit can't be as precious as her fairy vagina), she, Eric, Bill and Alcide convene in the kitchen to confront the latest supernatural crisis. Ironically, it's the same location she had a menage-a-bite with the two in a dream sequence back in season four.

The waking reality though, couldn't be further from the old Hollywood glamour vibe of her fantasy. And Sookie, still tipsy but perceptive about the mess her life has become since she struck up a conversation with "Vampire Bill," knows it. It doesn't matter if she breaks up with Bill and Eric or runs away from a barren fairyland. The vamp drama will never stop, because there will always be some new danger that wants to kill her, drain her, make love to her, or all three. And for the moment, Sookie seems to accept that--but we'll see how resigned to her lot in life she is once the peach Snapps wear off and the hangover sets in. On a side note, kudos to the writers and Anna Paquin for playing drunk the whole time--usually in TV a character is sloppy drunk one minute then stone cold sober a second later.

Anyway, Sookie and the boys set off to find the wiza--I mean Russell Edgington--and kill him so Bill and Eric can live to see another midnight. Using Alcide's glamoured underling as their guide, they explore what looks like an abandoned hospital. Through visions Sookie sees the vampire who freed Russell wore a pendant--the exact same pendant Eric's sister-maker-in-law Nora wears. Bill and Eric snipe at each other over this revelation, with Bill saying Nora sold them out in order to strike up a deal with Russell. Eric denies his accusations, but it's hard to believe he may not had let something slip during one of their...championship rounds. Unless Russell psychically communicated with her or something. After peeking around dark corners, spotting dead bodies being eaten by rats and dissing NYC ("It smells like pee and the people are rude," Eric snaps), they find Russell laying under tattered sheets in a decrepit room, looking more or less like his old self. At first it looks like an easy assassination, until Alcide gets side swiped by some creature, most likely one of Russell's juiced werewolves.

If I had to pick a traitor to the mainstreaming cause, it would Salome. For one, Nora is too obvious a choice; she's a hardcore sanguista, one who's a bit too fanatical about her beliefs. A coup as complicated as this requires some first-class deception and detachment. Secondly, if she sold out anyone it was Drew, who probably served as a fall guy so Roman wouldn't suspect Salome of treachery. Salome has been the one encouraging Roman to ease up on his hard line approach, evening telling him to throw the fundamentalists a bone. Since her suggestions have fallen on deaf ears, perhaps posing as Nora and freeing Russell are her own way of bringing down the Authority. We shall see.

While Sookie is learning to accept her danger-on-the doorstep lifestyle, Lafayette is fighting his inner brujo tooth and nail. After being mocked by religious knick knacks on his shelf (who knew the Virgin Mary was so shady?), he begs Jesus to give him a sign. Which in this case means waking up to the sight of his Jesus's head staring back at him with his mouth stitched up, mumbling incoherently. Lucky for Lafayette, his schizo mother Ruby Dee can speak severed head, and as soon as that white bitch say, "I'll be right back" you can bet she'll bust out of the home and tell him the good news.

The other half of the Reynolds-Thorton clan isn't faring much better. From the first shot of her sashaying through Fangtasia radiating post-mortem fabulousness, it looks like Tara may actually be at peace with her new life as a vampire. And like she's taking hand-me downs from Pam's closet. But wouldn't we all? Though after watching them interact for five seconds, it's clear Pam and Tara's progeny-maker relationship probably won't be marked by a century of killing, fucking and laughing. Instead Tara's a bartender, taking orders from blood-thirsty and/or horny customers and her boss--also Pam--which wasn't much different from Merlotte's. At least she and Sam got to have some after hours fun. And if the preview of next week's episode is any indication, Pam and Tara won't be doing each other's hair anytime soon.

Jessica, who walked in while Pam choked out Tara for feeding on a human in plan sight, orders a drink and the two commiserate on baby vampire troubles. You know, wanting to rip the head off every human head you see and craving blood all the time. The girl-talk finally loosens Tara up a bit--it may be the first time she's smiled this season--and something in Jessica's "you're young, you're hot, you're immortal, own it" pep talk clicks with her. Perhaps a little too much, as Jessica finds her feeding on Hoyt in the ladies room (did anyone else pick up on how Tara's "go home to your Mama" comment to Hoyt was almost identical to Pam's "does your mama know you're here" snipe to Jason back in season one?) and the two start to go at it. If Maxine could only see him now.

In shape-shifter news, Sam reports his fellow shifters' murders to the police. After leaving the crime scene he heads to Luna's to break the news and probably to engage in another boring talk about Emma, their relationship or whatever other limited topics of conversation these two always wind up gabbing about. But a curveball gets thrown when a truckload of masked vigilantes drive up and shoot the both of them, with Emma managing to escape. My guess is that Sam will live and Luna will bite it, and Sam will become an adoptive dad. Let's face it, what else can the show's writers do with her?

Although it's pretty clear from the preview trailer who's behind the supernatural murders, they have sparked a new streak of anti-vamp sentiment in Jason, who assumes the wounds on the shifters' necks come from vampires. The same ones he saw on his parents as they bled into the breakfast cereal during after a trippy fairy-inspired flashback involving Conan The Barbarian and some awesome 80's pajamas. Throughout the series, Jason has vacillated between pro and anti-vampire, and now he's drifting firmly to the latter. It'll be interesting to see how his relationships with Jessica, and Tara, change. Oh, and the shot of his naked butt almost made up for not seeing Alcide's. Almost.

In other human news, Terry and his fellow solders' misdeeds are fully revealed. Terry and Patrick are tied up in the basement by their shell-shocked comrade Eller, as he tells them how it was a fire demon named Ifrit, not him, who caused the other soldiers in their units' homes to burn down. Terri flashes back to Iraq, where after killing an entire family, he finds a woman is still alive and able to be saved. Patrick pulls rank and instructs him to kill her, but not before she goes all Drag Me To Helland places a curse on them that Ifrit will destroy them and everything they love.

Out of all the scenes in this episode, watching Terry and company set the pile of bodies on fire was the most horrific, if only because some soldiers' disrespect for civilian casualties is only too real. The flashback reminds Terry of the demon he saw, and he persuades Eller to let him go. Patrick however, thinks his confession was a trick, knocks out Eller and ties him up. Terry tries to convince him that Ifrit is coming for them, but to no avail. Hopefully things turn out better for them than Eller, who gets swallowed up by the demon in the basement.

Will Terry and Patrick meet the same fate as Eller? Will Jason join the anti-supernatural vigilante assassination squad? Is Salome the true traitor to the Authority? What secrets does Jesus's head hold?

I don't know, but I don't remember being this excited at any point in season four.